Kanna K. Siripurapu, is a doctoral Student at the People, Plants and Policy Lab at the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics, University of Guelph, Canada. He has three Masters degrees in Geographical Sciences & Environmental Sciences, and has more than two decades of professional experience in academic-research and in the development sector. His research focus is on biocultural diversity of Indigenous communities around the world. He is passionate about strengthening traditional community-based natural resource governance systems and mainstreaming of traditional knowledge and practices in biodiversity conservation through action-research and storytelling. His research at the University of Guelph focuses on the biocultural diversity of open natural ecosystems in India and Canada.

Besides doctoral studies at the University of Guelph, he serves as the Program Coordinator of the Indigenous Youth Storyteller Circle (IYSC) Ambassadors Program – a flagship program of Terralingua, an NGO based out of British Columbia, Canada that promotes biocultural diversity. He is also closely associated with DiversEarth, an NGO based out of Geneva, that works on the interfaces between spirituality and biodiversity.

Kanna’s previous professional affiliations include Andhra University, Woxsen University, and a network of NGOs including Revitalizing Rainfed Agriculture Network (RRAN), Watershed Support Services Action Network (WASSAN), Nirman Odisha, Visakha, Vasundhara, focusing on research and documentation of traditional agro-ecological systems, rights-based approaches to forest and biodiversity conservation, pastoralism, and inland fisheries.

In addition to research and advocacy, he encourages Indigenous youth to write stories about their lived experiences and document biocultural diversity of their communities through the project “Indie-Narratives”. Kanna also manages the Global Blue Forest and Oceanic Alliance (GBFOA), an informal global network that focuses on building resilience into socio-economic and ecological systems of coastal regions and Oceanic Islands.